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Blake, Wm. Job and His Family Restored to Prosperity, object 21. 1821.

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Researchers in Tokyo have found that music evokes bodily and emotional responses based on expectations. Surprising tunes can evoke feelings in the heart, while predictable ones can offer feelings of calmness.

Using 890 U.S. Billboard chart songs, the researchers played eight sequences to a group of over 500 people. Each one of those tunes featured a varied mix of surprising and unsurprising chord progressions.

The listeners revealed that differences in predictions materialized in particular parts of the body, specifically the heart and abdomen. Sensations in the heart showed a strong link to aesthetic appreciation and feelings of pleasure.

“This indicates that our interoceptive sense, that is the sensations felt from within the body, may to some degree underlie musical aesthetic appreciation and positive emotion,” one researcher noted.